Renowned agricultural scientist, Professor Roger Kanton, has urged the government to take immediate action to revive dormant food processing factories across Ghana to strengthen the agribusiness sector and reduce post-harvest losses.
Speaking at the Citi Business Forum under the theme “Harnessing Agribusiness for Economic Growth: Expanding Ghana’s Agribusiness Frontiers,” Prof. Kanton emphasized the importance of adding value to local agricultural products through sustainable agro-industrial development.
“We must reactivate facilities like the sugar, tomato, rice, and meat processing factories to add value to farm produce and cut down on waste,” he stated.
He questioned the government’s commitment to industrialization, criticizing the lack of support for existing agro-processing factories while highlighting the failure of initiatives like One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) and One-Village-One-Factory to rejuvenate previously functioning state-run factories.
“How can you talk about building new local industries when you’re neglecting those who’ve already invested in processing food locally?” he asked. “You can’t even sustain factories established decades ago under Kwame Nkrumah—why is that?”
Prof. Kanton pointed to abandoned facilities such as the Komenda Sugar Factory, rice mills in Bawku and Tamale, and dormant cotton processing plants as missed opportunities that could have strengthened the agricultural value chain.
He expressed hope that the government’s Resetting Agenda would include a serious and comprehensive revitalization of the agriculture sector, especially its industrial component.
“There’s a lot to fix in agriculture, and I hope the Resetting Agenda prioritizes the revival of our agro-industrial base,” he concluded.
